Elastic wheel.



Nmvsv. A PATBNTED JAN.14,1908.

L. A. GARGHEY.

BLASTAC WHEEL.

APPLIOTION FILED MAB. 6, 1906.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1,

No. 876,587. PATBNTED JAN.14, 1908.

L. A. GARGHEY. BLASTIG WHEEL.

i APLIoATIoN FILED MAR. 6. 1906.

a SHEETS-SHEET f2.

PATBNTBD JAN-14,1908.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3. I

. GAR Y.

E TIG V APP ATION FILED 1906.

CIR

nnns'rrc WHEEL.

no. evase?.

Specification of Letters Patent. u

Patented J an. 14, 19018;.;

Application ned nimh 6.1906. Serin No. 304.591.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, Louis ANTOINE GAR- CHEY, engineer', a citizen-of the French Republic, and resident ci Paris, France, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Elastic Wheels, of'which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to elastic wheels' the hub oi which is composed of two annular concentric parts separated by a spacev in which are located the devices or means for making the wheel elastic serving at the same time for imparting the movement of the one part to the other part.

lContrary to what has been done up to the present, the hub, according to this invention, comprises a guiding device Aand a device for transmitting the movement which are however constructed in such a manner that they do not interfere with the elasticity' of the wheel although securing for the wheel a stability in vertical direction which has hitherto notl been attained in wheels with elastic hubs.

Reference being had to the accompanying drawings t-Figure l represents in a section through the axle one form of construction by way of example. Fig. 2 shows in its upper part a section on line A-Bof Fig. 1 and in its lower part a front view. Figs. 3 t 4 show modified constructions. Fig. 5 is a section on line G-H of Fig. 6'. Fig. 6 is a front view and Fig. 7 represents in its upper part a section on line C-D and in its lower Fig. 6.

a is the axle and l; represents the metal bush ol the hub. The hub is composed of two concentric rings c and d otwood or other suitable material, which are not connected with each other by any rigid part. One ring is taken along by the other ring by means of an elastic body e placed in the annular space between the two rings. When the strain or torsion exerted onl this body a exceeds however the limit, the actic'n of the elastic body is automatically taken up by a mechanical device, which again ceases 'to `work when the. strain or tension has gone part a section on line lll-'F of.

[ being fixed in the same manner to the outer end 'of ring d. This outer` end ,of ring d is slightly larger than the end of the ring nearest to the axle, so that recesses lc are formed, in which the flanges f, g of part c can slide. Balls l are inserted betwe'n the ends of 'flanges f, g and the inner end of ring d and such ball-bearings may also be provided between the flanges h, f land '5., g res ectively, Itis obvious, that by the herein efore described arrangement the two rings c, d are ment in radial or circumferential direction.

The elastic body e is preferably made `of india-rubber and, as shown in Figs. 1 t 2, provided with radial rojections .engaging with corr spending -in entations m in the inner periliihery of ring d and indentations n in the outer periphery of ring c.

The shape of the elastic body e may be varied in many ways. The elastic body may be solid or hollow, it may be in one piece or in several pieces, or, as shown in Fig. 6, it may consist of a ring of spheres connected by annular links.

As long as the tangential strain of onel of the rings c, d on the other remains below a predetermined limit, the takinalo is only 'effected by the elastic body e, ut -w en thus limit is reached, the following device enters into operation.

The flanges h, i symmetrical point with a window s, (F' s. 1 @a 2). Opposite the center of these ows pivots t arescrewed into the langesf, g, having rollers u mounted on them which are secured in their position on the pivots by egs o. The dierenee between the width o the .windows and .the diameter of the rollers u is calculated corresponding to the limit of tangential strain 'which is netto be exceeded. .ltesults hereirom that, as long as the strain remains below this limit, the -taking along is effected only by thefelastic body e, but as soon vas this limit has 'been reached, the rollers t. are-` pressed against the flanges hor 'i res ectively and the rollersnow effect the along of one of thel rings with the other. It is' obvious, that this arrangement allowsft e rings c, d' to freely displace themselves on the pivots windows s the rollers c secured in a parallel position to axle ,a With-f. out being impeded in any way from displaceare leach provided at a caen other as ring c ma freely pivot around .i

`Figs. 3 8a 4 represent the elastic device for compensating the play caused by the wearing of the parts of the flanges which are in contact, which device operates withput preventing ring d from assuming an incllned position with' regard to the axle.

The two concentric rings c, Z have no indentation m, n .for the reception of projectionsof the elastic body e, and the taking 'rolling-face for balls Z.

along of one ring by' the other is effected by friction, elastic body e being compressed by part d so that it is flattened and pressed yagainst the flanges f, g. These flanges f, g are thicker and the ballsZ for facilitaing the Isliding of one part on the other, are located in .bearings The pivots t for the frictionrollers u are provided in the outer flanges Zz andi and the rollers u are located in recesses s of the inner flanges f, gl

The device for com ensating the wearing of the parts consists olP a ring y placed in the space Zc between flange g and the inner narrower end of ring CZ, said ring y serving as To compensate the Wear roduced by the diminution of the balls as we as of the parts on which they'roll, a suitable number of spiral springs .e are arranged parallel to the axle in convenient parts of ring d. The s rings which bear with one end against a p ate 2 rigidly fixed to ring d, press with their other ends the loose ring yagainst thejballs 1, this lpressure remaining uniform however great the wearing off of the balls or their rolling-faces may be. It is obvious, that these s rings may be replaced by any other suitable device of known construction, whichwould produce the saine effect without departing from the idea of the present invention. T ere could for example pads of india-rubber be inclosed jin the recesses for the springs a, which pads could eventually be connected one with the 1 other to form an elastic annular pad, or an air-chamber, such as used'in bicycles, could be employed instead of the pads. Asshown in Fig. 4, thesprings'z can be made'solidary with flanges f, g, for which purpose these flanges are furnished on theirl periphery at uniform distances apart from l pressed against the each other with boxes 5, open at the inner end and containing piston-like slidingpie'ces 6, serving as bearings for thev balls Z. The springs 2 are inclos'ed bet .veen the side wall of the box and the closed end'of the slidingpiece, so that the balls Z arecontinuously part (Z of the wheel. This device is easily mounted and offers further the advantage that the balls Z are well'lubricated. For this purpose it is only necessary, to fill the sliding-,pieces 6 with lubricant and to provide a small perforation or perforations 8 in the closed end of said sliding-pieces for 'thepassage of the lubricant to the balls.

To reduce the weight of the wheel, the

steel-plates 7, fixed onl ilangesf, g must be made as thin as possible,

for which purpose the ring Z is out away at the parts11,'(Fig. 5) at suitable intervals, cross-bolts 12 passing through said cut-away connecting and strengthening the front ends of flanges f, g. l

To soften the disagreeable shocks which are producedby the sudden contact of rollers u with the edges of windows s, it is advisable to insert an elastic buffer between the pivots t and the edges of windows s or o enings 12, which replace said windows.

iththis object in view, a spiral spring 13, (Fig. 6) is inserted between pivot t and the edges of the window, or,v as shown in Figs.y 6 & 7, the edges of the cut-aways 11 are lined with india-rubber as at 14, or, finally, the. pivot t is provided with a sleeve 15 of india-rubberor other suitable material. In

the latter cases it has to beconsidered that 'for the'pivot, as otherwise, when the pivot is cl'ose to the road, itmight happen that it is unnecessarily brought into contact with the""windowed e. l

When there 1s provided only one pivot t, the pla of the rin din respect ofthe flanges and ba ls Z could` ecorne too great; to prevent this, it is sufficient, to arrange on the periphery of the ywheel several pivots t, for example three as shown in- `Fig. 6.

Vhat I'claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. An elastic hub comprising two separate concentric rings, an elastic body interposed between said separate parts of the hub, so

as to take the one part along with the otheruntil a limited-strain on the elasticbody is reached, and a rigid device for taking along the one part of the hubfwith the other entering into effect when the limit of strain allowed for the elastic body has been surpassed, substantially as described and shown and for the pur ose set forth. l

2., An elastic ub comprising two separate concentric rings, an elastic. body .interposed between and connected with said separate parts, flanges projecting from the outer periphery of the inner ring and flanges pro- ]ecting from the inner periphery of the outer ring overlapping the flanges of the inner ring, y balls -interposed between the flanges of the inner ring and the outer rin and a device for uniformly pressing said bal s on their rollingandffor the purpose set forth.

3. The flanges of the inner hub-ring having boxes at uniform distances apart from each other on their outer end, spiral springs 'in said boxes and cylinders open at their inner end inserted into the open ends of said boxes, balls on the outer surface of the closed end of said cylinders, and steel-plates fixed to the outer hub-ring serving as rolling 12o face, substantially as 'described and shown l feces for the balls, substantially as described and shown.

4. The sliding-cylinders in the springboxes having perforations in the closed end y for the passage of the lubricant to the balls.

5. The rigid device for taking up the strain on the elastic body when exceeding the limit, consisting' of pivots screwed into the flanges of one hub-ring, rollers on sald l/Vitnesses ALFRED FREY, HENRI GURIN 

